Michelin Defender LTX Review: All Year Round Highway Light Truck Tire

If you are looking for reliable and high-performing all year round tire for your SUV or any light truck, then this tire is a great option for you. It has the combined benefits of durability, all-year-round conditions, smooth, safe, and convenient ride.

This tire model is most suitable for highway driving with light vehicles. It provides better traction for both dry and wet surfaces. It can also do effective traction on light snow conditions only. The better traction and treadwear of this tire unit is attributed to its compound, four wide channels, microgrooves, and sipes.

Together, we will evaluate and discuss its features, benefits, and performance if it meets your requirements. We will have both positive and negative aspects of it in order for you to have a better gauge of things. Hopefully, in the end, you will be able to make a sound judgment about this tire.

About Michelin

The Michelin Group has been in the tire manufacturing business for almost 130 years and it was founded in 1889. The core principle of the company is to provide safe, convenient, efficient, and environmentally sustainable tires for people’s transportation. Their headquarter is located in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Likewise, they have around 69 production plants all over the world to manufacture different kinds of tires that suit local demand.

Features

In this section, we are going to enumerate the important features and benefits of this tire model.

Speed Rating

This feature refers to the maximum speed a certain tire unit can handle without any problem. For this tire unit, the maximum speed it can tolerate is up to 118 mph. Beyond this speed, the tire will drastically wear out.

Treadwear Warranty

For this tire unit, it has a tread life warranty of 6 years or 70,000 mileage distance.

Tire Quality

For the evaluation of tire quality, we have the standard called the Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) system. This rating system ensures that the consumers get a reliable reference in checking for the overall quality of a tire. Likewise, UTQG abides with the standards developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

  • The treadwear rating for this tire unit is 800. It means it has 8 times durability as a tire with 100 rating.
  • The traction rating for this tire is A. It means it has good stopping force or gripping action on wet surfaces.
  • The temperature rating for this tire is A or the highest rating. It means the material of this tire can resist much heat due to constant friction, skidding, and braking.

Compound or Material

This tire model features the Evertread Compound of Michelin. This compound has enhanced durability and strength to withstand all year round conditions. The compounds rigidity is only suitable for light snow conditions. Further, it has built-in twin steel belts for enhanced load capacity.

Performance

We are done with the features, now let us go over its performance and see if it is worth your time and money.

Treadwear Performance

Its treadwear performance is 8 times stronger than one tire with a UTQG treadwear rating of 100. The factor behind this is the new Evertread compound manufactured by Michelin. This enhanced compound is engineered to withstand tougher external conditions. Further, it has steel belts within the compound to increase its load capacity.

Off-Road Performance

For off-road rides, this tire has enough grip and traction to overcome various surface materials such as dirt, sand, mud, and rock. This is attributed to the 3-D Active Sipes of the tire unit. Further, it has wide circumferential channels and microgrooves to have better biting edge and grip on the surface.

Wet Traction

The ergonomic design and grooves of this tire provide a decent hydroplaning resistance and wet traction on the road. The sufficient wet traction of this tire is attributed to the four wide channels and numerous lateral grooves which directs water out from the tire and contact surface. Moreover, its open shoulder slots direct water to come out sideways.

Dry Traction

This tire unit provides better abilities in cornering, steering response, and dry traction. The tough compound and groove patterns of this unit contribute much to its enhanced dry traction. The several 3-D sipes and lateral grooves contribute much to its traction skills.

Winter or Snow Traction

This tire model is best for highway and all year round conditions. However, for winter traction, it can only effectively tract on light snow conditions. The compound of this tire is hard and durable which is not suitable for extremely cold conditions. Likewise, the grooves in it are not enough to tract effectively on a heavy snow surface.

Convenient Ride

For highway driving with all year round season, this tire model is extremely convenient to have. Both dry and wet traction abilities are good and so it keeps you safe from sudden brakes, drifts, or skids. Likewise, the advanced compound which makes up this tire is tough enough to let you feel the value for money. The only setback for this one is its noise level. It is not that quiet like the winter tire but it effectively does its work.

Pros And Cons

For you to have a better gauge about this tire, we will show you its pros and cons. This will prevent us from having any bias regarding the overall quality of this tire model.

The Pros:

The Cons

Let Us Wrap Up

Michelin has been in the business for 130 years of manufacturing tires that meet local and global quality while keeping an environmentally sustainable program. I admire their core principle of providing convenient and safe transportation while still keeping their social responsibility. In relation, this tire unit reflects the core principle of the company. It both has the quality and sustainability of a good tire.

The important basic things you need to look for a good tire include tread life, dry and wet traction, load capacity, compound, and warranty service. So far, this tire model hit all the aspects mentioned. The main highlights of this model are its Evertread compound and the ergonomic grooves and channels. Before buying a tire, make sure you have done your market research and noted the size which fits your vehicle. Quality is always accompanied with a higher upfront cost. After this, take a step back and weigh the cost and benefits of this tire unit. A good thought to remember, safety and convenience will always be your priority over price.

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